Book-support



' No. 602,164. PaJtente I Inventor, W1 tne sses= T ALgfstedt, 1

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JULIUs AUGVLOFSVTEDT, or YONKERS, New YORKQ BOOK-SUPPORT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 602,164, dated April12, 1898. A nc'aam'mea June 28,1897. Serial No. 642,573. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J ULIUs AUG. LOFSTEDT, a citizen of the UnitedStates of America, residing at Yonkers, county of Westchester, State ofNew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inBook-Supports, of which the following is a specification.

My book-support consists, broadly, in a suitable book-rest mounted on arod which in turn is supported by a bracket suitable for attachment to adesk in such a manner that the book-rest may be held firmly in positionto hold the book where it can be conveniently examined, and when thebook-rest is not in use it can be lowered and placed out of the way; andmy invention consists in certain other details hereinafter morespecifically described and claimed.

In the accompanying sheet of drawings, which form a part of thisspecification, Fig: ure 1 is a side view of the book-rest with thecanvas side folded up and the other side with the wooden board open foruse. Fig. 2 is an end view of the book-rest with both sides open andshowing the supporting-rods, one of the rods being broken away at itsmiddle. Fig. 3 is an end View showing the catch for locking thesupporting-rod to the bracket to hold the book-rest in proper positionfor holding the book for use. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the book-support,showing how it is attached to the side of the desk, part of the deskbeing shown in section and the supporting-rod being broken away. Figs. 56, and 7 are views showing one of the means for holding one of theguard-wires. Figs. 8 and 9 show an attachment, consisting of a largeboard, which can be hooked onto the book-rest for supporting extra-largebooks.

The drawings show a double-folding bookrest. There is an intermediatecross-bar A, upon which all other parts of the book-rest are supported.There are two uprights B B and a connecting cross-bar 0, all preferablyin one piece and supported at the end of the intermediate cross-bar. Twoforms of support for the book are shown, one at the left of Fig. 2 ofcanvas and one at the right of stiffer material-as, for example, ofboard; but it is obvious that either form may be used on both sides. Thecanvas D or other material forming the side of the book-rest is attachedat its upper edge to the connecting cross-bar O and at its lower edge toone of.

hooked into staples U U at the lower edge of the board E. These areunhooked when it is desired to fold this side, and it is folded downinstead of up.

Each side of the book-rest is provided with a guard-wire, forming abook-guard for holding the books open. This book-guard G is supported byeyes I, which are fastened under the strips E E. The one at the left isprovided with a springH for pressing it against the book, or,when it isthrown under the strip, for holding it against the strip. The bookguard,is drawn in by a spring H, attached to the edge of thestrip and to thebook-guard on opposite sides of the supporting-eyes. It therefore actsto hold the book-guard in either position. The device shown at the rightof Fig. 2 and also in Figs. 5, 6, and 7 accomplishes the same purpose ina different way. There is a spring H attached to the back of the boardfor supporting the book, and there is a cam J, with a plurality ofcam-faces, attached to the book-guard, with which the spring engages topress the book-guard either toward the face of the board to hold thebook or away from the board to permit the book to be removed or foldedagainst the back of the board. When held away from the board, the springcontacts with the cam-face on the opposite side to that with which it isshown to be contacting in the drawings, and when folded against the backthe spring contacts with the same sideof the cam as when folded againstthe face. The spring is forked, and between the forks of the springthere is a collar K, which steadies the book-guard against any lateralmovement.

The above-described book-rest is supported on an upright rod L, which issupported at the end of a horizontal rod M at right angles thereto. Theterms horizontal and up right are here used for convenience, but noessential limitation is intended thereby. The book-rest is swiveled onthe end of the upright rod L, and the latter is adjustable vertically toany desired height at which it can be clamped by the thumbscrew N. Thehorizontal rod is supported by the bracket 0, which, as is shown, can bescrewed fast to the side of the desk P, the rod passing through holes inprojections near the ends of the bracket. The horizontal rod is free toslide in the bracket and except when nearly drawn out is free to turnwith respect to the bracket, so that the book-rest may be turned up ordown. In order to lock the book-rest in the upright position, thehorizontal rod is provided at its end with a block B. This block isrigidly attached to the rod and has two looking or guiding faces on eachside and parallel to each other, the block being notched between thesefaces. The bracket is provided with a tongue T, which extends beyond theouter of the two projections. This tongue has guiding-faces to contactwith the guidingfaces of the block on the horizontal rod. Between themis a spring S, which bears against the notch in the block, so as tooffer some resistance and prevent the accidental pushing in of thehorizontal rod after it has been pulled out far enough to be locked.Only one set of guiding-faces on the block is used in practice, theother set being provided so that the bracket may be fitted either to theright or left hand side of the desk.

\Vhen the book-support is not in use, it can be folded. The horizontalrod will be pushed back until its guide-block comes out of contact withthe bracket. The book-rest can now be swung down and the rod pushed backuntil the rest lies along the side of the desk entirely out of the Way.When it is desired to make use of the rest, the rod is drawn partlyforward, and the rest is turned up in the desired position. The rod isthen drawn completely forward until the guide-faces of the block bearagainst the guide-faces of the bracket. The rest may then be set at anyangle or any height desired.

\Vithout limiting myself to the exact description shown, what I claim,and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, 1s

1. The combination of a book-rest, a supporting-rod therefor, a bracketfor the supporting-rod in which the rod slides longitudinally, and meansfor locking the rod against rotation in the bracket by sliding itlongitudinally therein in drawing the book-rest into its position foruse, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a book-rest, a supporting-rod therefor, a bracketfor the supporting-rod in which the rod slides longitudinally, andguidingfaces on the rod and bracket to. engage and hold the rod againstrotation on sliding the rod longitudinally in the bracket in drawing thebook-rest into its position for use, substantially as described.

3. The combination of a bracket having circular bearings therein and aguiding-face, a book-rest, a rod mounted to slide and rotate in thebearings of the bracket and carrying the book-rest, whereby the lattercan be slid in and turned down when not in use, and a guiding-face onthe rod to engage the corresponding face on the bracket and hold thebook-rest in position when it is slid out and turned up for use,substantially as described.

4. The combination with an intermediate cross-bar, of a connectingcross-bar carried thereby, pivoted arms supported from the intermediatecross-bar, and a side cover extending from the connecting-bar to thefree ends of the pivoted arms, substantially as described.

5. The combination With an intermediate cross-bar, of a connectingcross-bar carried thereby, pivoted arms supported from the intermediatecross-bar, strips upon the ends of the pivoted arms forming supports forthe lower edges of books placed thereon, and a side cover extending fromthe connecting cross-bar to the strips and permitting the book-rest thusformed to fold flat, substantially as described.

6. The combination with a book-rest and a book-guard pivoted to swinginto and out of contact with a book on the book-rest, of a cam with aplurality of cam-faces attached to the book-guard, and a spring bearingon the same for throwing the book-guard toward a plurality of positions,so that it is thereby either held toward or away from the face of thebook-rest or against the back thereof, substantially as described.

Signed by me in Yonkers, New York, this 25th day of June, 1897.

JULIUS AUG. LOFSTEDT.

Witnesses:

SAMUEL W. BALCH, GALUsHA B. BALCH.

